Former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi
The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, says no anti-corruption agency in the country can probe him.
The PUNCH had reported that Amaechi
along with some other former governors: Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Sullivan
Chime (Enugu); Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom);
Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Shehu Shema (Katsina) and Martin Elechi of Ebonyi
State were being probed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and
related offences Commission.
However, Chief Tony Okocha, a former
aide to Amaechi, told one of our correspondents that the ex-governor was
not afraid of ICPC or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as
long as the probe was not a witch-hunt.
Okocha, however, recalled that the ICPC
and the EFCC had not vacated a court order stopping any of them from
investigating any Rivers Government official and as such could not probe
him.
He stated that Governor Nyesom Wike was a
beneficiary of such order from the court, adding that until the court
injunction was vacated, it would be illegal for the ICPC to probe his
boss.
“I have always said that Amaechi is not
afraid of the EFCC or the ICPC as long as such probe is not a
witch-hunt. Again, there is a court order that the EFCC or other agency
like it cannot probe any government official in the state. Wike is a
beneficiary of that court order.
“Until that court order is vacated, the
ICPC or the EFCC have no right to investigate Amaechi. Since what they
are going to investigate is his (Amaechi’s) activities while in
government, the EFCC and the ICPC do not have such right to do so based
on the standing court order.”
The Chief Press Secretary to Fashola, Mr. Hakeem Bello, did not respond to the intended probe of his boss by the ICPC.
However, Fashola, while speaking at the
16th annual Bishop Mike Okonkwo Lecture in Lagos, “I will not respond to
allegations of corruption on the pages of newspapers.”
Similarly, Shema, Kwankwaso and Lamido did not respond to phone calls on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Ekiti State chapter of
the Peoples Democratic Party has challenged the ICPC to explain to
Nigerians why it did not include former Governor Kayode Fayemi among
those it is currently probing.
According to the party, the anti-graft
agencies have been given more than enough petitions and facts to assist
them in getting to the root of the financial misconduct allegedly
perpetrated by Fayemi while in office.
Source: PUNCH
No comments:
Post a Comment